For years, LGBTQ+ students at Samford University have been asking for protection from discrimination.

They say that harassment on campus is frequent for students like them, but that any reports of targeted discrimination on the private, Baptist campus just outside Birmingham will go unheard.

“We can report stuff to our Title IX office, but there’s no infrastructure in place to actually take any action,” said Courtney Smith, a 20-year-old junior. “Even if you do report something, nothing is going to be done about that, which means there is no layer of protection against harassment for LGBTQ students on campus.”

On most campuses, Title IX, the federal civil rights law that protects students from sex discrimination, generally prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It requires colleges that receive federal funding comply with the law protecting students. But some religious schools, such as Samford, can claim exemptions, citing their Christian beliefs.

In other words, if a school is governed by a religious organization that believes LGBTQ+ identity is a sin, then it’s exempt from providing some protections against sex discrimination for those students, said Joe Baxter, an interim leader with the Religious Exemption Accountability Project.

“What this really does is it leaves a gaping hole in protection for students,” Baxter said. “It puts the students at a great risk of harm.”

In September, students held a protest on Samford’s campus with roughly 60 attendees, including alumni, faculty and clergy members, asking President Beck Taylor and the university administration to formally approve anti-discrimination policies to protect the LGBTQ+ community.

“Our silence during the duration of convocation hour is a representation of LGBTQ+ students being ignored by Samford’s administration,” students wrote in a letter to Samford leaders. “LGBTQ+ students significantly struggle to feel safe within their learning environment if they have no representation on campus through a recognized LGBTQ+ organization or without an anti-discrimination policy preventing them from experiencing bigotry or prejudice.”

Scarlet Thompson, the university’s spokeswoman, told AL.com that “Samford does not unlawfully discriminate on any basis.”

“The law recognizes Samford’s right, as a religiously affiliated institution, to act in accordance with its religious values and beliefs,” she added.

Samford was founded by Alabama Baptists in 1841. The university has since reduced its funding from the Alabama Baptist State Convention several times, including in 2018 after the convention threatened to cut funding over a proposed LGBTQ+ student organization.

The university remains affiliated with the Baptist church and has never officially recognized an LGBTQ+ student organization.

Thompson, the Samford spokeswoman, declined to answer questions from AL.com and denied requests for interviews with university president Beck Taylor and Lisa Overton, the Title IX coordinator. But she emailed a statement on behalf of the university.

“As a community, Samford University is welcoming of all students,” the statement reads. “Samford’s Christ-centered mission, rooted in the Baptist tradition, aims to meet every student where they are, to love them unconditionally, and to provide them opportunities to grow in every aspect of their life. Students choose to enroll at Samford knowing the school’s religious affiliation, mission, and values. Every Samford student has equal access to all educational programs, clubs, organizations, and resources formally recognized and supported by Samford University.”

But LGBTQ+ students and alumni say they haven’t felt welcome on campus.

Smith leads Samford Prism, an LGBTQ+ student group that’s been denied official recognition by the university. Because they can’t formally organize on campus, the group of undergrads meets for roller-skating or craft nights off campus.

“Our big thing is trying to get students to find community,” Smith said. “Especially on a religious campus, it can be really, really hard to find other queer students.”

Brit Blalock, a Samford alum who lives in Birmingham, leads Safe Samford, a group of LGBTQ+ alumni and allies, to support students on campus.

“These students are sort of oftentimes stuck in a place where they can’t be themselves fully or they feel fearful of repercussions, which doesn’t lend itself to a very good learning experience or a very mentally healthy experience,” Blalock said.

More than half of transgender people say that, while they were college students, their mental health suffered, according to research by the UCLA School of Law’s William Institute. More than a third reported that they experienced bullying, harassment or assault.

And, a survey by the Proud and Thriving Project found that LGBTQ+ college students experience more depression, suicidal ideation and academic struggles than their non-LGBTQ+ peers.

In 2021, the U.S. Education Department affirmed that Title IX protects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. This came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a county agency in Georgia violated the Civil Rights Act by firing an employee for being gay.

Even though the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights maintained its exemptions for religious institutions, the move under the Biden administration prompted a surge in outreach from religious institutions seeking confirmation of their exemption based on a “specific tenet” of their religious beliefs.

Baxter said while those universities asked Education Department officials to promise they’ll recognize the exemption, colleges don’t have to file paperwork ahead of time to be exempted during a Title IX investigation.

Some LGBTQ+ students at Christian schools are fighting the Education Department’s exemptions through a lawsuit. The federal case, filed by the Religious Exemption Accountability Project, is a class-action that collected more than 40 plaintiffs who alleged that the religious exemptions violate their rights as students.

In January, a federal judge dismissed the case. The plaintiffs filed an appeal in March, and the case is currently active, per court records.

Erin Green, the accountability project’s other interim leader, said that while there weren’t any Samford students involved in the lawsuit, the organization is working to help support LGBTQ+ students at Samford.

Students at some religious colleges, including Baylor University in Texas, have filed complaints with the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, alleging the university failed to address homophobic harassment. But Baylor requested an exemption to allegations of sexual harassment, and the Department upheld the request this fall.

The Office of Civil Rights has opened investigations into alleged LGBTQ+ rights violations at several other religious colleges over the last few years.

Last year, Samford’s campus pastor Bobby Gatlin uninvited two campus ministry organizations from campus, citing their LGBTQ+-affirming stances. In response, Taylor, the university president, said he supported the university’s “traditional view of human sexuality and marriage” in a video message.

That frustrated some students and alumni who had met with Taylor and gotten assurances that he wanted LGBTQ+ students to succeed at Samford.

Some faculty members at Samford have been supportive of students, with the majority voting in favor of recognizing LGBTQ+ student organizations several years ago, said Fred Shepherd, a political science professor who’s taught at Samford for 30 years. He’s an unofficial faculty advisor to Samford Prism.

“At a serious university, it’s very important for a wide variety of people to have the ability to speak,” he said. “A very important part of the ability to speak is the ability to come together and gather.”

Despite the years of pushback, Samford students and alumni say that it’s not a solution to simply tell them to enroll elsewhere.

In fact, Smith said, they’re tired of hearing it.

“There are queer students coming from every walk of life, coming from any circumstance, and there are a thousand reasons why you could end up on a campus like Samford,” he said. “Those students still deserve to have a loving environment and have a campus that cares about them. Even if it is a religious college, they still deserve to be supported.”